Abstract

The purpose of the thesis lies in exploring the new possibilities of the stilt building in dealing with two sustainability problems caused by urban development: the Lack of Public Greening in Prosperous, High-density Areas, and the Continuous Sprawl of Private Housing in Suburbs.

As a functional building method with a long history, stilt building, or known as building with “The Pilotis,” regained its vitality in the 20th century with Le Corbusier. However, the common application mode of today’s stilt building has deviated from Corbusier's original intention, which was to provide sheltered outdoor green space for residents in the city. This is regrettable. As long as stilt building is used in the right way, its “own job” can bring new options for solving the two sustainability problems mentioned above.

In the densely populated commercial and residential areas, to cope with the shortage of public green space, small-scale green spaces can be dispersed between leasing areas under buildings by “elevating the bottom floor,” a green “network” with strong accessibility can be constructed throughout the whole area to improve residents’ physical and mental health and the overall value of the region. Two simple schemes will demonstrate this idea. Also, in the field of private housing, through the combination with prefab building, modular stilt housing, this new building method will not only provide a choice that is low-cost, high-quality, and highly adaptable for households and developers but also can expand the courtyard area without losing space inside the house, which can alleviate the pressure of suburban sprawl. A brief case study will support this idea.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Courtyards--Design and construction; Poles (Engineering); Sustainable urban development; Modular construction; Environmental engineering

Publication Date

12-2-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Architecture (M.Arch.)

Department, Program, or Center

Architecture (GIS)

Advisor

Nana-Yaw Andoh

Advisor/Committee Member

Dennis A. Andrejko

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

ARCH-MARCH

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